Chloe breaks a centuries-long curse on the Mai, inherits the role of Pride Leader and sacrifices one of her nine lives so that there will be peace between the Mai and the Order of the Tenth Blade. Chloe King is a Mai (a person with cat-like agility and powers) who has to inherit the role of Pride Leader (leader of the Mai) from the current Pride Leader, a wealthy real estate mogul called Sergei. This is the third book in a trilogy. In the first book, The Fallen, Chloe reaches her 16th birthday and discovers her new-found Mai powers while being pursued by The Rogue, a member of the Order of the Tenth Blade which is an organization bent on killing Mai because they think Mai are dangerous abominations. By the end of the first book, Chloe thinks she has killed The Rogue, but the death of the Rogue has heightened the tensions between Mai and Tenth Bladers. In the second book of the trilogy, The Stolen, Chloe seeks refuge with Sergei and the other Mai he leads at his wealthy mansion called Firebird mansion. She learns more about the way of the Mai and their history. By the end of the second book, Chloe sacrifices one of her nine lives to save her adopted mother (who is a regular human) from the Tenth Bladers and successfully diffuses a show-down between the Tenth Bladers and the Mai. This act reveals to the Mai that she is the One, or the true Pride Leader, as only the true leader has nine lives.
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The Chosen is the third book in this series and it begins with Chloe discovering that Sergei may not be as trustworthy as she thought. There is evidence that Sergei may have killed Chloe's biological mother, who was the previous leader of the Pride, in order to gain control of the Mai. Chloe moves back to live with her adopted mother as she no longer really trusts Sergei and she is worried about her mother's safety.
One night, Chloe discovers Brian, severely injured in an alley. Brian is one of Chloe's love interests. He is a regular human but he is the son of Whit Rezza, who is the leader of the Order of the Tenth Blade. In book one, Brian had been part of the Order and given the task to watch Chloe. By the end of book one, Chloe, who had fallen in love with Brian, discovers his betrayal. In Book two, Brian disobeys his father and tries to convince Chloe that he didn't mean for her or her mother to ever be in danger. By the end of book two, Brian and Chloe have renewed their love for each other, however this means that Brian must officially quit the Order. It is therefore not really a surprise that in this third book of the trilogy, Chloe discovers Brian beaten to near death by members of the Order who regard him as a traitor. Chloe doesn't want to bring Brian to the hospital because they might ask difficult questions, so she brings him to Firebird Mansion, which is Sergei's mansion and the Mai headquarters. At Firebird Mansion, all the Mai are surprisingly obedient and unquestioning and they acknowledge her as the One.
Before Chloe leaves the mansion, she checks on Brian's condition. Brian wakes up and kisses Chloe before passing out. Chloe is horrified since Mai and humans cannot share intimate relations because apparently the Mai are toxic to humans due to a centuries-long curse borne from violent crimes the Mai committed against the humans in their past. Chloe thinks Brian had kissed her because he thinks he's going to die anyway.
Later on, Chloe meets with Sergei who seems to accept that she is now the rightful heir of Pride leadership. He tells her that he will help to arrange for a big meeting with all the Mai, where they will perform the official ritual to make her the new leader.
Over the next few days, Chloe notices that Brian's condition doesn't seem to be worsening. She decides to find Xavier. Xavier was a guy Chloe had a momentary dalliance with in the first book of the trilogy - a dalliance that ended up with Xavier being hospitalized because of the Mai toxin. Chloe discovers that Xavier has miraculously healed. In fact, he healed on the very same day that Chloe sacrificed her life to save her mom (at the end of book two of the trilogy). Chloe discusses this with her Mai friend, Kim, who is a "Mai geek" or sorts and Kim thinks that Chloe has broken the Mai curse by sacrificing one of her nine lives to save a human (her adopted mom).
Later on, Sergei asks Chloe to meet with him at an abandoned theater to discuss the whereabouts of Chloe's biological father. Chloe ends up being trapped at the theater with The Rogue, the fanatical Tenth Blader who tried to kill her in book one of this series - the Tenth Blader that she thought was dead. Chloe learns that Sergei had been working with The Rogue all along and that because of their collusion, The Rogue was able to kill Chloe's biological mother and sister, allowing Sergei to gain control of the Pride. In a surprising twist, The Rogue kills Sergei, citing that he hates all Mai, even the one who pays him to do his dirty work. Chloe narrowly escapes the theater and The Rogue because some police bust into the theater.
Chloe tells the Mai that Sergei is dead then rushes off to make sure her adopted mother is safe. She then calls Whit Rezza, the leader of the Order of the Tenth Blade to tell him that The Rogue was a traitor and had been working with the Sergei. Chloe asks for a truce but Whit is unwilling and in fact plans on taking advantage of the chaos of Sergei's death to strike at the Mai. Meanwhile, the news that Sergei was a "criminal mastermind" shocks the Mai community and it is imperative that Chloe becomes the new Pride leader right away and take charge. Chloe undergoes the Mai rituals of inheriting her new role and makes a powerful speech that convinces the Mai that the only way for them to live in happiness and prosperity is if there is peace between the Mai and the Tenth Bladers. The pride responds favorably.
Unfortunately, one of the Mai who wasn't present for Chloe's speech, had already gone off to do a vengeance killing on a member of the Tenth Blade. Chloe quickly calls the leader of the Tenth Bladers, Whit Rezza, to try to smooth things over and demands to meet with Whit, dangling his son Brian as "bait".
The Mai and the members of the Tenth Blade meet and Brian explains that he was injured by Whit's own members. To even out the "blood-for-blood death toll" incurred by one of the Mai making a vengeance killing for Sergei's death, Chloe offers to give up one of her nine lives to the Tenth Blade in exchange for truce. Whit agrees to the deal and Brian is given the "honor" of killing Chloe and being there for her when she revives.
The story ends with Chloe, Brian, and her friends - both Mai and human - enjoying their new "ordinary" lives together as high school kids attending their Halloween dance.
Best part of story, including ending:
I like that the mysterious curse that forbids Mai and humans to be close was explored further in this book and that Chloe found a way to break the curse so that she can be with Brian without killing him.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene was when Chloe makes her powerful speech to the Mai, after completing the Mai ritual of becoming Pride leader. It was a emotionally tense scene, as we as readers didn't know how the Mai would react.
Opinion about the main character:
I like that Chloe is portrayed as someone who doesn't really want to be the leader of a whole race of people (she just wants to be a normal teenager) and yet manages to step up to the plate. It gave a very satisfying and very three-dimensional portrayal of her character and made her both relate-able and admirable.
